Category Archives: Holidays

Have you ever attended an event, like a wedding or funeral, and wondered what happens to all those flowers after everyone goes home? What about flowers in grocery stores and flower shops, that are not longer fresh enough to sell? In what may be the ultimate in recycling, “Random Acts of Flowers” takes those flowers and repurposes them into something beautiful and inspiring!

Think about the joy you experience when you give or receive flowers. That’s the joy that volunteers with “Random Acts of Flowers” get to experience regularly.

The non-profit began in 2007, in Tennessee, by Larsen Jay. After a near fatal accident Jay credited the daily visitors and dozens of floral arrangements he received as being a crucial element to his recovery. Once able to leave his room, Jay noticed many other patients sitting alone, in rooms devoid of flowers. He began going around the hospital gifting some of his floral arrangements to other patients and was struck by the effect it had on them That’s when the seed for “Random Acts of Flowers” was sewn.

Today this wonderful non-profit has expanded and now has five branches around the country, including Evanston, Illinois. Teams of volunteers do everything from refreshing the flowers that have been donated, then creating them into beautiful bouquets and arrangements and finally bringing them to patients. Nurses and caregivers in healthcare facilities and nursing homes identify patients who seem in need of an extra emotional boost.

And science bears them out. Research shows that patients who receive flowers recover more quickly and require less post-operative pain medication.

Junior Achievement strives to help young kids be successful. It’s not just another ordinary youth organization designed to get kids off the street. This particular organization mentors and guides kids by allowing them the opportunity to see how major companies and businesses are run and operated through entrepreneur programs. I myself participated in the program in my teens and it has helped me decide my future.

it’s a great organization for youth who are unsure of their future with great opportunities to gain life-long work ethics and transferable skills that would benefit them in the long run.

Join WCRX-FM Tuesday December 5, 2017 for our 15th Annual Holly Jolly Food Drive. The LIVE Broadcast celebrates the season with visits from Chicago performers, celebrities and dignitaries all for a great cause, bringing meals to those in need.

Since 2002 Columbia College Chicago students, alumni, faculty and staff have helped raise over 45 thousand dollars and over 3 tons of non-perishable food for the Greater Chicago Food Depository. Everyday the organization distributes 160,000 meals and works with more than 700 partner agencies and programs including food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters. Our collective efforts have fed thousands of people during the holiday season.

Stop by our live broadcast and donate a non-perishable food item or a canned good, bid on our auction items from supporting local businesses and celebrate the holiday season.

If you or your organization that would like to partner with WCRX-FM to help feed those in need, contact the station advisor Matt Cunningham at MCunningham@colum.edu, bring a food donation to the station or mail a check to Greater Chicago Food Depository to WCRX Holly Jolly, 33 East Congress, Chicago 60605.